SOLDIER
by Clement Rage
Summary: Pearl Matheson is accepted as the first woman in SOLDIER. It's not quite what she expected. NOT A PARODY. No OC/ Canon romance. Rating may rise.
1. Introductions

_I've seen a lot of these , but I have to admit, they rarely appeal to me, even though some could be very well written. But for some reason, I ended up playing with a plot in my head over the past while and since I generally write OCs,I thought it would be worth a try. This fic will not contain OC/Canon character romance. Please review, compliments not compulsory. Enjoy._

**To be a SOLDIER**

The Science Dept. wasn't quite as visitor friendly as some of the other parts of the Shinra building. This was a place of stark greys and whites, built to be used, not looked at. Still, the staff were friendly enough, and while there were all kinds of rumours about the things that came out of the science department, none of it was in evidence today.

Standard medical form, height, weight, BMI, bone density, various checks to be sure she was telling the truth. It was an efficient procedure, although her feet dangled out past the end of the examining table, which made things slightly awkward. The lead scientist handed her back the forms.

"Alright, Ms. Matheson, all this seems to be in order. But I'd like to clarify a few things. Could you join me in my office a moment, please?"

She dressed and stood, ex-military discipline asserting itself briefly.

According to his nameplate, the doctor's name was Kevin Sopean. There was nothing particularly memorable about the man, he could have been any of a dozen of Hojo's pale faced researchers. Thirtyish, glasses, dark hair, the pale skin of someone who spent his time in a lab. He fixed her with a searching stare, tapping the pen against his desk.

"Firstly, Ma'am, let me reassure you that you meet the requirements for entry into SOLDIER. I just want you to be sure you know what you are letting yourself in for."

"By all means, sir."

"First, Mako enhancements are permanent, so I would urge you to think carefully. SOLDIER has not to this point recruited women, so we're not quite certain what the effects may be."

"Why was that, exactly?"

"Not my department, you'd have to ask the Turks. All I can tell you about is medical facts."

"Anything medical I should know, then?"

"Well… you are several years older than our usual recruits. A body that isn't fully developed has an easier time assimilating the Mako, so… I'm afraid, Ms. Matheson, you will never be Sephiroth."

Pearl sneezed, covering her mouth. " That's a shame. But I'll be able to get by?"

"You wouldn't be here now otherwise."

"Alright." She stood.

"One last thing… you're from Banora, correct? Did you know Genesis?"

Pearl's eye twitched."Vaguely… I was younger, I think the only thing he ever said to me was 'Hey you, come back with those apples!'"

Kevin smiled, for just a moment. "Well, Ms. Matheson, there doesn't appear to be any major obstacles to your acceptance, that I can see. If you don't change your mind, report back here tomorrow for your infusions."

Pearl Matheson, prospective soldier recruit, saluted. "Sir."

"I'm no sir. Alright, now that that's out of the way, and you've got your place, tell me why. Why did you want to join SOLDIER? You must know it's not quite the same as the posters."

"I decided to transfer somewhere where I could be of the greatest possible value to Shinra, sir."

"And do you have a dream? To become 1st, for example? What do you hope to gain from this?"

"… I've served in Wutai since I was fourteen. I didn't want to die there."

"I see. Well, good luck to you, SOLDIER."

"Thank you sir."

"Dismissed."

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The SOLDIER 2nd who had collected her from the labs hadn't said a single word since he'd arrived, which for the moment at least, suited her just fine. Pearl could barely see, the sound of every step made her head pound, and every inch of her clothes was suddenly rubbing her raw. So her journey passed in a parade of periodic flinches and hesitations. When Kevin had said Mako enhancements sharpened the senses, he had not been kidding.

Just before they emerged onto the SOLDIER floor, her collector suddenly sighed.

"Look, I just want to know one thing… Why are you here?"

"I went over this with the doc."

"Shinra departments don't share info except at swordpoint. Deal with it."

"I thought it'd be the best way to survive the fall of Wutai."

SOLDIER 2nd sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "Well, I've heard worse. My name's Dennis, I'll be training you mostly. So, you're Banoran? Did you know Genesis?"

"No."

"Okay. Well, welcome aboard, I suppose." He extended a hand. Pearl almost gasped at the contact. The palms of Dennis' hands were criss-crossed with deep scars from blades. These weren't nicks, it was a miracle he had anything left of either hand above the thumb, never mind all his fingers. Shaking the hand felt like sandpaper. Dennis looked away.

"When I was younger, I thought palm parries looked cool."

"Yeah? And now?"

Ghost of a smile. "Sure, but they also hurt a lot. Still, it's usually better to lose your hands than your head."

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out onto the main floor.

The SOLDIER floor was much less populated than she'd expected. The floor had the standard Shinra sleekness, all metal with the occasional plastic plant or inlaid Shinra logo. There was almost no one is sight, so Dennis paused just inside the entrance for another little speech.

"You're going to learn a lot over the next few days. Things you never saw on the posters. Y'see, despite what a lot of people think, SOLDIER isn't a group of superheroes having a ball cutting up rocks and being invulnerable to all harm. We take our jobs very seriously."

A SOLDIER 3rd ran past, arms spread wide and making 'nnn nnn nnn' noises. Dennis paused a moment.

"Normally. Davis, come here!"

The SOLDIER skidded to a halt. "Sir?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Youthful exuberance, sir." Davis was maybe fifteen, and very freckly.

"I see. While I can appreciate the sentiment–"

"Sir, with all due respect, you're twenty two. Your life is over."

"Feek told you to say that, didn't he?"

Silence.

"Go find him now, tell him I'll deal with him later. Scat."

Davis fled.

"It's a good idea to make friends with that kid."

"Yeah? He Heidegger's nephew?"

"No, he's a baker. Parents run a shop in sector 2, they keep us well stocked. They invite him back fairly regularly, so he's a little more respected than the average 3rd. You'll pick up a lot of little details like this over the next while. Do you sleeptalk or have night terrors?"

"No one's ever told me if I did."

"Alright, well, we have a lot of empty dormrooms right now, so you can more or less take your pick. K Block is pretty much deserted. You can even get your own room if you like."

"That sounds like favouritism. That'll piss off people."

"Well, we could put you in with three fifteen year old boys, but we figured that wouldn't be fair on them or you. Your choice."

"Hmm."

"You'll also need to bear in mind when picking, everyone on this floor has very sharp ears, and the vents are really good carriers of sound, so you might want to cover them with something if you're doing something you want to keep private. You might hear someone crying at night, but that's fairly normal, it's best to just ignore it."

"Crying? Why?"

"They don't usually announce it, and no one asks. You can get settled in later. Time to meet some people. Most of the thirds are out, I thought it was best to take things easy at first. They're going to be interested in you, 'first girl in SOLDIER' and all that, so be prepared for questions."

She eyed him. "Is the 'first woman' thing going to be a problem?"

"From us? No. All the 2nds and most of the 3rds have been to Wutai. You figure out pretty quick that girl fleas bite just as hard, or else you find out how a shuriken through the forehead feels. Your biggest problems will be with the humans, not us. Ready?"

Pearl shrugged. "Sure."

"Alright then. Welcome to the doghouse."

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When Dennis brought her into the in-house canteen, there were less than a dozen people there, discounting the canteen staff, who were all SOLDIER 3rds. Dennis approached a group of three, obviously brothers, who stood as they approached. Davis was standing behind, urgently speaking until he saw them coming.

Dennis waved back the seconds as they were about to stand.

"This is Pearl, the new girl. I'm gonna need your help training her now and again. Pearl, these are the triplets, Oisin, Rafiq, and Anton. "

Oisin looked towards Dennis "TWAG or Squee?"

"Meh," said Dennis, shrugging. A couple of smiles, then the group stood up and introduced themselves. Oisin carried the standard infantry blade at his hip, and had very well developed wrists. Anton carried a worn combat knife in addition to twin sabres, while Rafiq carried the same infantry blade, but over his shoulder, and he was dotted with burn scars.

"You're training me? So… I'm not going to be trained with the other thirds?"

"You're a special case, a five year vet and all that. We'll need to start you a little more advanced. Plus, we're kinda short of thirds at the moment, so…" They all examined the surface of the table briefly.

A pause.

After a moment, Rafiq spoke up. "So, you're Banoran? Did you know Gen-"

"No."

"Touchy subject?"

"No-one ever believes me! Gets annoying as hell."

"It's not that big a town."

"Sure, but Gen was the boy on the hill who could evict you if you pissed him off. Angeal was nice, but he wouldn't help with robbing the groves. I was nine when they left for SOLDIER and wasn't all that interested in the papers. No big story to it. We just never crossed paths much."

"But-"

"Feek. Stop talking." Oisin. "So, Pearl, anything you'd like to know before you settle in?"

She considered. "Why weren't women recruited before now?"

A circle of shrugs. "You'd have to ask Lazard."

"Why all the huge swords? You guys compensating for something?"

The SOLDIERs all gave little sighs. She looked at Dennis.

"I touch a nerve?"

"No, it's just... Every single cadet I've ever trained has asked me that question. Every single one. And they all act like they've said something _incredibly_ original and clever. I had such high hopes for you, too. To answer you, no one in SOLDIER chooses the weapon they use, and the weapons suppliers don't take measurements, so probably not. Even Sephiroth and Genesis had their weapons and costumes chosen for them by the marketing department."

"What am I going to be doing over the next few weeks?"

"Mostly training, either sparring with me or in the sim room. Maybe some missions if we think you're up for them. I might draft in help for different things. First off, we'll need to assess your abilities. Anything else?"

"For now, I'm okay."

Pause. Then Oisin.

"So, Pearl… why did you decide to join SOLDIER?"

She sighed. "I figured I could seduce my way to the top."

A moment of utter silence. Then, Feek:

"What? Who told you about our promotion policy, that's supposed to be secret!"

She froze. Feek held a straight face, but the others burst out laughing in the pause. Pearl sighed.

"Look, gentlemen, I'm not in the mood to play 'how much bullshit will the new recruit swallow' today. So, one of you had better explain that, and for now, please grow the fuck up."

Ush looked at her. "Alright. Absolute truth from here out, honest. In order to make 1st, you have to be recommended by a senior 1st class SOLDIER, and be personally trained by him for a while. An old joke in this department calls that the honeymoon period. As far as we know, it's not accurate. Probably happens now and again, but if you recommend someone who isn't ready, they get killed, so anyone exploiting the young'uns to get fucked will suffer the beating of a lifetime once it's found out. So no, there are absolutely no compulsory seductions for promotion. Anyone gives you trouble, you can set your fanclub on them."

"Every single SOLDIER has a fanclub?"

"Naw. Just the big names. Which includes you, on account of being the first woman, Shinra's gonna push that angle like hell. The newsletter for your fans is over there. The_ Banora Pinks. _

"Huh. That's actually kind of clever, I'll give them that. But… I've been a SOLDIER 15 minutes."

"Shinra's PR department can be scary." Pearl searched Dennis' face, but detected no trace of a joke. Ush inclined his head towards Davis, who immediately hid behind a plant

"Davis here's already signed up."

"Really? Let me see."

He rummaged in a pouch for a second, and handed across a copy of the newsletter on the noticeboard. It was, of course, a pink page.

"'Pearl Matheson, born in the remote but picturesque orchard town of Banora, spent most of her childhood working in the groves. She ran away to join the army aged fourteen, beginning the process of calcification that produced the gem we see today…' Ugh. Tell you what, keep it. Keep me posted on anything interesting, yeah?"

"Well, apparently you have a longstanding crush on Executive Palmer...", said Anton, reading over her shoulder.

"Really? I didn't know that."

Don't worry, nobody takes those things for total truth… on this floor, at least. He just wanted to know a bit about you. Davis, give her a muffin."

The SOLDIER 3rd shoved one at her at took off at a run.

_Well, as apologies go…_

She bit down on it… and jolted out of her chair with shock.

A circle of smiles. Anton leaned forward.

"First meal with mako enhanced senses… you never forget it. Enjoy this moment as much as you can. You got a Davis cake as your first, now that's lucky. Me, I got field rations, and nearly died of the shock."

"I- Is it always like this?" That one bite was honestly the most amazing thing she'd ever tasted.

"Fraid so. One of the things about SOLDIERs that isn't on the posters. Bad news is, the bad tastes are magnified too."

Davis reappeared and left a cake box on the table, which put paid to conversation for some time.

Feek spoke up again in the lull. "Did Den tell you how he got his scars?"

"Palm parries."

"What? That's all? Come on, you can't just leave things there, it's a funny story!"

"Only the way you tell it, Feek."

Rafiq stood up, hands waving, spraying cake crumbs.

"So, three ninjas walk into a bar…"


	2. Things You Don't Learn From Posters

The official SOLDIER training room was not what Pearl had expected. Bare metal walls, admittedly with several significant dents in them, including one almost four inches deep and eight wide that had left knuckle prints in a reinforced steel wall. Given that, maybe it was unsurprising that there was no furniture present, but still, no training dummies or targets, _nothing_, for the most elite fighting force Shinra had? Sure, she'd been given goggles, which was nice, but surely Shinra could've sprung for something a little more elaborate. All in all, the place was rather unimpressive.

Den hadn't wasted time. He'd given her a little while to get settled into her dorm, but it wasn't long before she was standing across from him on the training floor with a bared sword. It had been some time since she'd last held one.

"Can't this wait? I'm still a little sore from the infusions and my eyes won't stop watering."

He looked at her. "Pearl, that's not the infusions. That pain never goes away. It's a part of you now."

"What?"

"Enhanced nerve sensitivity comes with more pain sensitivity too. Hits you take will hurt you more than the same strike would a human, even though they will damage you less. Once your senses get sharp enough, you end up with near constant low level pain."

" Shinra'S elite super SOLDIERs don't even have pain immunity? Don't see that on the posters."

"No. But pain is a very important part of combat. Was a Cetran Queen once who made her elite guards immune to pain through sorcery. You might've heard the legend. Malackai was the name."

"Don't think so."

"She sent em to raid a neighbouring tribe, one small enough to be a challenge without being stupidly dangerous. The clan territory's boundary was across a river. Only the other tribe had laid caltrops underwater –you know what they are?"

"Ninja stars that you toss on the ground and wait for them to be stepped on."

"Right. Now, this was in the days before mandatory steel soled military boots… You see where I'm going with this, right?"

"I think so," Pearl said, wincing.

"Good. To be fair to Mal, she was really unlucky in that for a raid like this, she needed to move fast, so maybe they weren't as inclined to scout as they might have been. And with special forces, there's always a pressure not to be less badass than the rest of the squad, so you don't whine unless there's a serious problem. So even if her commandoes noticed all the holes in their feet, as far as they knew, it wouldn't impede their combat efficiency, so they could deal with it on the way home. What do you think happened next?"

"Infections."

Den smiled. "Correct, SOLDIER. They hit one grazing ground of the neighbouring tribe, but all of a sudden Mal's elite Cetran warriors started dropping dead from infected wounds that they had either not noticed or dismissed as unimportant. The raiding party shamans had to exhaust themselves healing said infections, so they weren't at peak combat readiness when the victim tribe countered with cavalry pursuits. So, what happened?"

"Killed to the last man?"

"No, actually. That's why I think this might actually have happened, history tends to be a little messier than legend. Sepsis or not, these raiders were still pain immune elites, and the other tribe was small. But they left a trail of corpses back to the ford, and one burned grazing ground isn't worth hundreds dead. Her super loyal elites suddenly became a lot less loyal thanks to that one bad judgement call, and her heirs were able to use the whole debacle to depose her. Moral of the story, Pearl?"

"Um… pain is good?"

'SOLDIER -the masochist squad' _That, _she certainly hadn't seen on a poster.

"I wouldn't go_ that _far," – Pearl mentally sighed in relief as Den continued- "but it is important. One- off disposable shock troops can get by with pain immunity, but it's not viable for long term personnel. I hate the Science guys, but they're good at what they do. If you're in near constant pain, you almost do get a certain level of immunity. When you do get stabbed or shot, you're able to take significant pain without passing out. You don't not notice your severed arm, you think, 'ok, that's a problem, but I've got bigger concerns right now.' I hate it, but it works. And on that note, Pearl, hit me if you can."

"What?"

"Traditionally, new recruits earn the right to one session of full contact sparring with their instructor. I prefer to get it out of the way at the beginning, so I can train you without worrying about surprise attacks. Relax, I'm not going to kill you."

Pearl didn't move. "Y'know, they stopped doing this in the army. Too many overconfident instructors got themselves run through or shot."

Den smiled. "Yeah, well, it's harder to accidentally kill a SOLDIER, less you accidentally call in an air strike. So the key thing to remember is 'don't try to kill me'. Honestly, though, I've been in SOLDIER eight years. If you can hit me, I deserve it. You did train with swords, right?"

"A bit." She lunged. Den twisted his wrist, and the swords clashed with a clang. He hadn't put weight behind it, but she felt the vibrations down to her ankles, and almost fell.

Pearl blinked."You know, I was always taught that edge on edge blocks were a bad idea. Damaged the blade."

"True… but 'chipped sword' is a better outcome than 'severed arm'. If you ever get into a high grade combat situation, there will be attacks that you won't be quick enough to dodge. If you've got a sword you can't afford to break, use a different one. We have a higher sword budget than the infantry. What else you got?"

Pearl twisted away and thrust low. He stepped past the point and delivered a light kick to her front knee. Her leg didn't fold, and she managed to hold the stance with eyes watering from the pain. Den back off five steps and waited.

"Still on your feet, that's good. But remember, you are not a sword. You're a SOLDIER with a sword. You have other means of attack. Stay flexible."

This time he was the first to attack. She ducked the first slash, and tried to punch with her off hand, but almost screamed when her knuckles met the flat of his sword. Yelping, she shook out her hand, as Den took another step back.

"Good idea, but very risky. Use your limbs, but don't forget, I have a sword too."

_Okay, it doesn't look like I can beat him straight up. Time to be creative._

Once she could feel her hand again, she waved him on and leapt back, trying to keep her distance, parrying and countering slightly more slowly than she could. Den switched styles, moving to sheer aggression from blocks and counterattacks. Pearl did her best to keep her distance, ducking and dodging as best she could.

A flurry of strikes kept her on the retreat until her back hit the wall, and she found a sword at her throat.

"You're underplaying. Stop it."

"What?"

"Terry, load Hall of Mirrors."

_What?_

The world dissolved. She jerked forward into her stance, sword rising, and waited for things to make sense. When she could see again, Dennis was gone, and she was standing in something resembling the inside of a discoball or a hollow gemstone, every facet gleaming with a perfect reflection. Den was gone, although his voice echoed from somewhere in front of her.

"Some people access controls with their phones, but I prefer to have someone I trust in the control room. You don't always have time to take out your phone when you get in trouble."

"Wha- What just happened?"

"An actual real training room for SOLDIER would be destroyed in a week. We …tend to play rough. This… is kind of an illusion, and kind of not, I don't have a clue how it works, but injuries you take here are real, and you can go all out without fear of breaking stuff. Unless you cast a bunch of fire spells, because this is still a confined space, even though it doesn't look like one, so if you burn away all the air in here before the system can replace it… Anyway, take some time to get used to the place. Let me know when you're ready."

_Shinra can do this? _Some people could cast illusions, but she'd never seen anything this convincing. Reflections were one of the most difficult things to capture accurately. This seemed to be an insanely powerful piece of engineering to waste on pretty backgrounds for a sparring room.

When Pearl turned, a thousand reflections turned with her. Den stayed quiet.

"How do I get out of here?"

"Soon. But for now, why did I pick this setting?"

"There's more than one?"

"Oh, you'll see. It's really something, even if you're used to it."

"Where are you?"

"Not far. Hide and seek comes later, for now, I'm just trying not to overwhelm you. If you could see me, the mingled reflections would give you a headache."

Pearl knelt, examining the ground which was shining her own face back at her. It wasn't glass, but didn't seem as indestructible as diamond. On impulse, she punched the ground, watching her face splinter as another dull ache sped up her forearm.

"Why am I here?"

"I was too lazy to go get a mirror. What do you notice about your reflection?"

She looked at herself in one of the nearest undamaged facets. She didn't notice anything unusual. 'too lazy to get a mirror' implied that it was the reflection that was important, not the environment but she just looked like her. Military bearing, shortish brown hair, gleaming eyes…

"If you're trying to draw my attention to my Mako eyes, I already know about them."

"Huh. That was quick. Maybe you do, but do you understand them? Underplaying is normally a valid tactic, but not with those eyes. Not every random citizen recognises them, but anyone fighting Shinra figures out real fast that they're bad news. No one, nowhere, is going to underestimate you as a threat as long as you have those eyes, unless you're fighting a 1st. And even he's not likely to dismiss you, we've all had scares. The most serious wound I took in Wutai was inflicted by a ninety three year old grandmother I assumed wasn't a threat."

"How did you know she was a grandmother?"

"I'd just killed her son and granddaughters." No change in tone.

Pearl said nothing.

"They were ninjas! What did you think you were joining, SOLDIER? Are you a five year vet with clean hands?"

"…no," said Pearl, after a moment.

"Alright."

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing! It was wartime, there was no point in holding a grudge. Besides, I was busy trying to re-inflate my lung at the time." A reflection burst inwards in front of her, and Den stepped out.

"Terry, neutral."

The room reverted to its normal state, and Den raised his sword.

"Alright, lesson learned. Now, are you going to attack or not? I can't assess your abilities if you don't go all out."

She lunged. Den switched styles again, using stop thrusts and cross counters every time she attacked, ( the flat of his blade, but enough to sting). When she figured out the pattern, he switched again, using the blade for defence, but attacking with open handed palm strikes–while fists hurt the victim more, open hand strikes were less likely to damage the attacker. So, for all his experience, he was not entirely immune to pain. Interesting. She'd always had a flair for hand to hand combat, and it wasn't long before he switched again, a footsweep sending her stumbling backwards to give him time to leap back. And continue to flee from her, bouncing off the walls and ceiling with hands and feet and head, turning cartwheels and flips and somersaults for what seemed like pure dramatic effect. After a while, Pearl couldn't help but get into the spirit of it, turning a cartwheel or three for the first time since she was about five, but she couldn't catch him, and eventually stopped trying. Whereupon, Dennis came right at her, switching styles for something that should have been ludicrous, all high kicks and spinning. But somehow, he was fast enough to land several hard hits to her ribs with the flat of his sword, do a _handstand, _and then kick her in the jaw while upside down. The strike knocked her back four paces, enough space to glimpse the next oncoming spinning kick and catch the boot, grabbing and swinging–

The fireball hit her chest. Her body armour took the hit, but the fireball still knocked her off her feet and into a wall hard enough to bounce, before landing face down on the floor. And Den had made his point. She had things to learn, above and beyond ordinary infantry combat.

"Were… the backflips… really necessary?"

"You tell me. What was the purpose of that little display?"

"You said…to assess… me?"

"Right. But what else?"

"You wanted... to show off?"

"Why?"

"Was there a reason?" The pain was not fading all that much, but it was becoming clear that it wasn't going to be lessened much by lying still. Pearl sat up, wincing.

"There's always a reason for the exercises I run. Maybe it's not always a good one, but there's always a reason."

"Then… to… put me in place, assert your dominance. If so, you're kind of a dick."

"Maybe so. What else?"

"…For training? So I'll do what I'm told?"

Den sighed. "Being a SOLDIER isn't quite what people think it is. All you see on TV is Sephiroth slicing stuff into onion rings, but you've gotta learn a lot of boring stuff fore you get to that level. Lesson one, tomorrow, is how to hold things without breaking them. Everything on the SOLDIER floor is built to take abuse, but you'll need to learn how to shake hands without hurting people before we let you leave. Raw recruits can get a little frustrated with all the boring lessons, and I found that I usually had to lay down the law sooner or later, show them that I can do the TV somersaults, that all this boring stuff isn't timewasting. The farther along they are in training, the more likely it is that I have to hurt them, so I get it out of the way early, make sure you know that I know what I'm doing. And I can also assess you, even though I'm supposed to use the training room for that."

"Isn't that what we've been doing?"

"You'll see. Can you stand?"

"Ugh…I'll try." Pearl stood. She was capable of it, her body was not weakened or damaged, but the impacts from training blazed, and she slumped back. She could and would get up if she really needed to, but the right motivation was apparently important for powering through pain.

"I _can_ stand, but I don't want to just yet."

"Fair enough. While we wait, I'll do some more assessing. How many languages do you speak?"

"…One and a half."

"Midgar standard and Wutai?" Every soldier picked up a little Wutai during the war, to varying degrees. Pearl's probably wasn't perfectly grammatically correct, but she could usually make herself understood.

"Right."

"Well, if you ever want to make 2nd, you need at least three. I recommend Gi, no one speaks it anymore, so you won't be challenged on your ability."

Pearl said nothing.

"Y'see, SOLDIERs are not blunt instruments. Speaking the right language can mean the difference between a peaceful surrender and slaughtering an entire garrison. And despite what AVALANCHE says, most of us prefer option A. Raw power is easy, Hojo and Scarlet can make lots of powerful toys. The key virtue of SOLDIER, what makes us different from the other monsters, is restraint . Remember that."

"I will," said Pearl, meeting his eyes.

"Good. Up to going back yet? Sorry to rush, but there's a lot of demand for the use of this room, so we'd better move at least as far as the control room. I can get someone to carry you back if you like."

"No, I'll manage." She hauled herself up right, and bruises that hadn't formed yet blazed, but this time she didn't give up. "Gagh! Are you sure this doesn't get any better?"

"Nope. But don't worry, you do get better at dealing with it as time passes. A little. You ever need to incapacitate a SOLDIER for a couple of seconds, slap his ears, that _really _stings if you aren't prepared for it. Get some rest, I'll call you tomorrow to start proper training."

She gained her feet and slowly left, passing approximately thirty SOLDIERs of various levels en route.


	3. A Question of Gender

_I swear, I was 700 words into the simulation scenario before I realised that the scenario had another implication. Oh well, enjoy. Please review, compliments not compulsory._

**A Question of Gender**

The rooster coughed. Pearl moved, but missed the timing, and was blasted backward hard into the wall of the henhouse as the entire structure shivered. Pain flared, but she was getting better at powering through it by now. Staggering to her feet, she tossed off a fireball from her off hand, but a Mbarrier flickered into being in front of the rooster, which clucked in displeasure from the backlash, but stayed on his feet and coughed another egg. Pearl ducked the explosion, took up a guard stance, and shouted "This is fucking stupid!"

The scene didn't change. Den looked up at her from where he was standing. Occasionally the rooster would cough at him, but he seemed to duck around the attacks without thought.

"Yeah? How's that?" He sounded amused. She would have tossed a fireball at him is she thought it would hit.

"One, that's a rooster, not a hen. Why is he laying eggs? Two, even if it was, why is it ejecting them at speed from its throat? Three, eggs within hens are not infinite, and as far as I know chickens can't use barrier materia. Four, chickens are not invulnerable to all conventional weapons. Five, why the hell did Shinra deploy SOLDIER to deal with a rogue rooster attack?"

"Good. Country girl, I see. Although you did miss the fact that hen's eggs do not as a rule explode with the force of concussive grenades when cracked."

"I'm from an orchard town, I've been no closer to a chicken than you have. But even I know this makes no sense." She ducked another egg.

"You're right. It's designed to, although some of the slum rats take a while to catch on."

"Designed? Who by?" She took a step forward, and the rooster accelerated his fire rate.

"Me. Well, I say designed, I mean 'told a tech lady what I wanted', but it's the principle. Everything you said is right, but Roger's still there, between you and the exit."

Pearl got within three feet of Roger before she the fire rate got fast enough that she had to block an oncoming egg projectile with her sword, and was blasted back into the henhouse wall.

"Oh, come on!"

"Are you talking to me?

"Roger the Rooster, huh?" Pearl paced (without stepping closer). It looked like a rooster, the same as any other rooster. But this rooster was evil incarnate.

"An exercise deliberately designed to be stupid… but there is a way to win?"

Den nodded.

"Okay." She took a step. An egg shot towards her and shattered on the wall behind, blasting her forward. Swinging the sword like a baseball bat, she absorbed the impact of the follow up, using the force to get back to proper distance.

"His rate of fire accelerates the closer I get. Magic is negated on his shield. I can't damage the walls, and neither can he. There's no way to engineer a crossfire situation. So 'Charge!' won't work, and neither will sniping or hammering at that one essential beam that will cause the ceiling to collapse on him. I presume I can't get you to help?"

"Not unless you're about to die or be seriously injured. And no, that isn't the solution."

"I figured. And I have the gear I need?"

Nod.

"So…" Dennis had said his lessons always had a purpose. What had he been trying to teach here? She'd spent a good three days picking up eggs, learning how much pressure to put on them before they broke, a little bit of juggling and catch with some of the other SOLDIERs. And now an egg themed combat with an evil chicken monster. What should she take from this? That Den liked to mess with trainees' heads?"

"You stopped talking. Either you're drawing a blank, or you've decided narrating your thought process in the field is a bad idea."

"Shut up!" Den blinked, but obliged.

She'd been juggling eggs this morning, and now the challenge fight involved dodging them. That was a link. But what did she do now? Try to intimidate the chicken into backing down with her juggling skills? Maybe Den just liked eggs. No, he'd designed this thing himself, that wouldn't have been done on a whim. So where was the lesson, what was the point?"

Pearl took a step, and flung her sword. Roger fired five eggs in quick succession, but they skidded off the edge of the blade and ricocheted into the walls before detonating. Roger ducked his head, but the pommel clipped his skull on the way past. The chicken rocked back a step, but recovered quickly and set his eyes on the now swordless Pearl.

Who sighed. "Fuck." She glanced at Den, who was smiling.

"Very good idea, I actually hadn't thought of that. On general principle, don't throw away your sword… unless you're in a situation where the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. But there's another solution."

"Can you get me my sword?"

"You don't need it. Last hint, SOLDIER."

Serious now, then. So, she now lacked a sword. The fire materia had been in the sword's slots. Which left… her bare hands to deflect exploding grenades with.

And then she had it, so stupidly simple that it was amazing it had taken this long. Pearl took a step. Roger spat an egg. And with SOLDIER speed, Pearl let the egg fall into her hands, tucked it into her chest while it was still in motion, spun, and threw it back. She missed Roger by about two feet, but he was consumed by the detonation with a startled squawk, and was blasted into ribbons a heartbeat later when the egg rising in his throat exploded. A stupidly overelaborate pyrotechnic display ensued, before the training room reverted to normal dull steel.

Pearl walked over to retrieve her sword, but stopped as Den looked at her.

"Today's lessons?"

Plural. Hmm. "…Even if… the situation is stupid… you still have to deal with it."

"Right. In SOLDIER, you will sometimes get thrown into situations that don't make sense. You can't complain to the referee. If something is trying to kill you, it doesn't matter if it's impossible. Take it down, and let the Science guys figure it out later. What else?"

" Em…egg juggling is a vital skill with many applications?"

Smile. "Not quite. But sooner or later you'll find yourself in a situation where someone throws a stone, a bottle, or yes, a rotten egg at you. If you duck the missile, the mob sees that you fear it, that you can be hurt. If you block it, the mob assumes you can be harmed. If you let it bounce off your skull, you look like a mindless machine. But if you can _catch_ that stone cleanly and easily, or the bottle without breaking it, that scares whoever threw it to the bone. As SOLDIER, you need to be concerned with how your actions look as well as their effectiveness. Just don't try it with real grenades. Anything else?"

"Anything can happen in the training room."

"Well, sort of, but that's just something you figure out in general. Did you like the exercise?

"It was okay, although I'd probably prefer one that wouldn't give rise to cock-fighting jokes as soon as I get back to the squadroom."

Pause. Then:

"Oh _fuck!_"

Den closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I've been running that sim for years, I didn't think-"

"What? That was an accident? Really? I thought you were trying to see if I'd complain!"

"Fuuuck. Um, well, anyway, congratulations, you are now cleared to leave the SOLDIER floor. Ant asked me to give you this to commemorate passing your first stage of training."

"Ant did? Why?"

Dennis shrugged. "He likes carving."

He drew a box from his pocket. It was a carved wooden figurine of a rooster. He was in full battle stance, tail fluffed, wings spread, head down, and rendered in incredible detail. There was no inscription, but wood was valuable in Midgar. This was worth keeping. She accepted the figurine, and waited.

There was a pause, then he waved at her.

"Alright, dismissed. Seriously, I'm so sorry about that…"

"I'll manage." She was not inwardly smiling, but wasn't completely aghast either. This was a garrison, these things happened. Actually, she'd been overstating things. When she exited the training room, there were the usual thirty or so SOLDIERs standing silently. Her training always seemed to warrant an audience, but no one would speak to her, except the people she already knew. Not properly. They answered direct questions, but few made any effort to get to know her better. It wasn't the normal 'intruder' vibe, though. If she had to describe their attitude, she'd almost call it fear. It was getting annoying.

Pearl sighed. "Y'know, if you're going to be stalkers, you could at least say something."

Silence.

"No? Am I that terrifying?" She glanced at the nearest SOLDIER 3rd, and walked up to him. A Wutai half breed. "Hey, you, what's your name?"

"…Wasani." He said, after a moment.

"Yeah? You a mongrel?"

A dozen indrawn breaths. Wasani raised his head.

"Don't ever call me that again," he said quietly.

Pearl was not stupid. She pointed to another 3rd at random.

"You. Name?"

"They call me Swift."

"Want to spar?"

"No." Immediate reply.

"Oh, come on, you're afraid of me? Really? I'm in my first week, how dangerous can I be?"

She spun under their silent regard, trying to catch someone's eye. "Anyone? Spar?"

Silence and avoided eyes. Pearl growled and turned towards the door.

"I'll spar with you." Not a voice she knew.

She turned. One of the SOLDIERs, near the back. A First Class, in fact. Sunglasses. Shinra armband studded with materia. Single light fencing sword slung over one shoulder.

And now the other SOLDIER were reacting, glancing at between them, stepping aside as he moved forward. She could tell it wasn't Sephiroth, at least.

"Um… do I know you, sir?"

Smile. "I doubt it. So… spar?"

"I think… you're probably above my pay grade, sir."

"I dunno, I reckon it'll even out." He pulled his glasses down his nose, revealing empty white sockets.

Pearl took a breath and glanced around. The other SOLDIERs were maintaining their masks.

"Actually, you know what? Forget it. Maybe another time."

"How about an arm wrestle, then? Thumbwar? Rock paper scissors? I can't let my honour be sullied by backing down from a challenge, you know. Bad for my rep."

Pearl smiled in spite of herself, and noted similar reactions from some of the circling SOLDIERs before they recovered themselves. Well, at least this one was talking to her.

"That, I can manage."

"Alright. Swift, since she likes you so much, you can come with us and referee."

Swift started, but followed them off the floor and into one of the SOLDIER lounges, where Ray settled across from her where a two couches faced each other across a coffee table.

Sunglasses back on his face, Ray raised his head towards her, waiting for the obvious question. So she went ahead and asked it.

"You're in SOLDIER?"

"Effectively retired now. But I'm still on the books. 'Shinra takes care of its own' or so we're told." He bared his teeth. "Three, two, one!"

Double Scissors. "Draw" said Swift.

"What happened?"

Shrug. "No big story to it." He tapped his left eye – the actual eyeball, either ignoring or not noticing their winces. "Wutai sniper I didn't see until after the shot. It happens."

She'd seen crippled vets before, wallowing in their missing limbs, but Ray appeared to have come to terms with his loss. Good sign.

"So how're you finding SOLDIER? Three, two one!"

"Paper. Ray."

"Okay, so far. The people I can convince to talk to me are pretty nice. But why is everyone afraid of me? I've been the only woman in garrisons a couple of times before, but nothing like this ever happened. What's going on?"

Ray shrugged. "First woman in SOLDIER, there's bound to be some interest. They want to see how good you are."

"That should mean a bunch of challenges to spar. Not that I'd enjoy taking beatings or anything, but why are they afraid to talk to me?"

The blind man sighed. "Shinra doesn't change policy for no reason. For the first ten years of the SOLDIER programme, there were no women recruits. So people wonder… why the change? What's so special about you that Shinra switched policy? Were you so awesome that you have potential to become the next Sephiroth? How did you manage to get Shinra to change just for you? How are you so powerful? People wonder, and they don't take risks with someone who's such an unknown factor. Three, two, one!"

"Scissors. Pearl."

"Is it possible that I was just the first girl to apply?"

"Not really. Trust me, if Shinra had wanted more women in SOLDIER, there would be more women in SOLDIER. So, do you have incriminating photos of Lazard in a safe deposit box somewhere?"

"Ha! I wish! I don't know if there's anything special about me, I applied and was accepted, that's all I know."

"Hmm… and Den would have said something if you were some kind of prodigy talent… he admits that you're good, but not exceptional. So what do we take from this?"

Pearl shrugged. " I don't know, but there's more to it than that. Other places I've been someone who an unknown quantity was usually was immediately tested by the locals What aren't you saying?"

"That's different." Pearl glanced at Swift in surprise, but he didn't stop. "It's your first week in SOLDIER. Normally, you'd have other recruits to jostle with, but SOLDIER is shorthanded, so all your potential opponents are hardened Wutai vets. If they fight a week old cadet, and win, they're seen as a bully. If they fight and lose, or even draw, then they're weak. If they throw the fight, they're cruel. And no one knows for certain how good you are. So the best option for keeping friends is to avoid the encounter entirely."

"Wow… you guys really need to calm down. I've taken and given a beating or two in my time. There's got to be more to it than that. Still, spar with me tomorrow?"

Swift hesitated, glancing towards the doors, but there wasn't much he could do. "Fine."

"Ah. Progress." said Ray happily.

"You, a politician? I'd never have thought it." Swift.

He grinned."Gotta occupy my time somehow. I don't fight so well these days, if Pearl here had agreed to spar, I was fucked."

Swift hesitated "I'm… not so sure of that. Not if you were serious. Sorry, Pearl."

"It's okay. He's still a first. Three, two, one!"

"Rock. That's Pearl."

"Congratulations, SOLDIER. That's what victory feels like. Well fought." Ray was smiling,

"Sure. My name will echo through the ages."

Swift grinned, standing. "See you tomorrow."


End file.
